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American Battlefield Trust

Historic Site

Redwood Library, Newport, RI

Rhode Island

50 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 02840

Newport , RI

Redwood Library, Newport, RI

The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is America’s first purpose-built library and the oldest continuously operating library in its original location. As a result, it is the only remaining secular public cultural institution in this country with an unbroken link to the colonial period and the United States' founding. The original collection of 751 books—purchased in London—reflected the intellectual interests of educated people in the mid‑18th‑century. Subjects included religion, philosophy, law, agriculture, history, and medicine. Despite losses during the British occupation of Newport in the Revolutionary War, the library has restored 92% of its original titles through later acquisitions.

What's Nearby

Explore more of The Liberty Trail by visiting these nearby attractions.

Historic Site

Redwood Library, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

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Redwood Library, Newport, RI

Historic Site

A beige building with brown trim and a columned portico stands behind a garden of bright flowers and neatly trimmed shrubs, bordered by a wrought‑iron fence and stone posts.

Touro Synagogue, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

0.41954214362085

Touro Synagogue, Newport, RI

Historic Site

A light‑colored historic building with dark shutters and a central double‑door entrance sits on a corner lot, featuring three dormer windows on the roof and a short staircase leading up from the sidewalk.

Vernon House, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

0.45743209672349

Vernon House, Newport, RI

Historic Site

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Museum

Artillery Company of Newport Museum

Newport, RI 02840

0.514482645899

Artillery Company of Newport Museum

Historic Site

A grassy yard filled with blooming yellow daffodils stretches across the foreground. Behind the flowers stands a large historic red building with white trim, multiple windows, and a small columned portico at the main entrance.

White Horse Tavern, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

0.69873765947138

White Horse Tavern, Newport, RI

Historic Site

A large boulder with a bronze plaque attached commemorating the burning of British ships.

Equality Park, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

0.91306085810014

Equality Park, Newport, RI

Historic Site

Mid-18th-century Georgian mansion museum with period furnishings.

Hunter House, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

1.2311952601425

Hunter House, Newport, RI

Historic Site

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Fort/Outpost

A white stone marker labeled “Green End Fort” stands in a grassy landscape with bare trees and a bright blue sky.

Green End Fort, Middletown, RI

Middletown, RI 02842

2.2900164081847

Green End Fort, Middletown, RI

Historic Site

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Fort/Outpost

A stone fort wall with an arched entrance rises behind a grassy area where an informational sign, an old cannon, and a picnic table sit under a bright blue sky.

Fort Adams, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02840

2.4596986804482

Fort Adams, Newport, RI

Historic Site

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Museum

A white colonial‑style building with a central staircase and double doors is framed by bright pink flowering trees, with an American flag near the entrance and a clear blue sky overhead.

Naval War College Museum, Newport, RI

Newport, RI 02841

2.8097823787851

Naval War College Museum, Newport, RI

Historic Site

A small rocky island with a cream-colored lighthouse and red roof surrounded by water.

Rose Island Lighthouse & Fort Hamiton

Newport, RI 02840

2.9294539622195

Rose Island Lighthouse & Fort Hamiton

Historic Site

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Fort/Outpost

A small rocky island with a cream-colored lighthouse and red roof surrounded by water.

Rose Island Lighthouse & Fort Hamiton

Newport, RI 02840

2.9294539622195

Rose Island Lighthouse & Fort Hamiton

Historic Site

A tall flagpole flying the U.S. flag rises from an open grassy field, with a leafy green tree beside it and a line of trees along the horizon.

Conanicut Battery, Jamestown, RI

Jamestown, RI 02835

6.8922281116613

Conanicut Battery, Jamestown, RI

Historic Site

A rectangular historical marker to British General Prescott mounted on a red wooden wall.

Prescott's Headquarters, Middletown, RI

Middletown, RI 02842

7.5599566725248

Prescott's Headquarters, Middletown, RI

Historic Site

Tombstones in the Friends Meeting House Cemetery, Portsmouth, RI1

Friends Meeting House, Portsmouth, RI

Portsmouth, RI 02871

12.438500169575

Friends Meeting House, Portsmouth, RI

Historic Site

Granite monument to 1st Rhode Island African American Regiment

1st Rhode Island Regiment

Portsmouth, RI 02871

13.477623562227

1st Rhode Island Regiment

Historic Site

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Fort/Outpost

A sunlit grassy field stretches toward a dense line of leafy trees, with long shadows cast across the ground.

Butts Hill Fort

Portsmouth, RI 02871

15.150595143724

Butts Hill Fort

Historic Site

General Lafayette Marker, Tiverton, Rhode

Tiverton, RI 02878

17.553445048902

General Lafayette Marker, Tiverton, Rhode Island (RI-8)

Historic Site

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Fort/Outpost

Fort Barton in Tiverton, Rhode Island

02878

17.558363994167

Historic Site

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Marker

General Lafayette Marker, Bristol, Rhode

Bristol, RI 02809

20.854125332399

General Lafayette Marker, Bristol, Rhode Island (RI-3)

Historic Site

A small white historic building with four columns and green shutters stands at a roadside; the sign above the door reads “Kentish Guards 1774.”

Kentish Guards Armory and Drill Field

East Greenwich, RI 02818

22.749531454599

Kentish Guards Armory and Drill Field

Historic Site

A historic yellow civic building stands behind a flagpole flying the American flag.

Site of the First Colonial Navy

East Greenwich, RI 02818

22.817276720521

Site of the First Colonial Navy

Historic Site

Colonial Home of General James Mitchell Varnum

James Mitchell Varnum House, East Greenwich

East Greenwich, RI 02818

22.880642684307

James Mitchell Varnum House, East Greenwich, RI

Historic Site

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Museum

A small fortress like brick building sits on a street corner, with arched wooden doors, battlements, and a nearby cannon.

Varnum Armory Museum

East Greenwich, RI 02818

22.980464572139

Varnum Armory Museum

Historic Site

Colonial era 2-story manor house with 9 windows trimmed in white, with 2 chimneys and a red cannon in the front yard.

The Major General Nathanael Greene Homestead

Coventry, RI 02816

30.289938227426

The Major General Nathanael Greene Homestead

Historic Site

Bronze marker on boulder to commemorate spot of the burning of the Gaspee

Gaspee Monument

Warwick, RI 02888

31.537826572626

Gaspee Monument